I used to read Skywald publications most of the time when I was I kid, but some of the stuff they thought was scary was lost on me. Voodoo for example, which seems to me to be nothing more than some kind of weird racist sublimation of the times. Zombies didn’t scare me until they were the George Romero undead. I do have to admit to a fascination with shrunken heads though, that was okay.

Other topics that escaped me were delving back into the past, such as medieval or pirate settings. I didn’t understand that take. As well, they relied on “Roger Corman” castle and operatic tales that were just dull. I’m wondering why they went down these roads. So many years earlier, E.C. comics discovered that good old human back-stabbing could be mined for plenty of horror. Why vampires, stilted voodoo and medieval lords? Holy yawn… As well, this “Heap” series was just out there. I don’t really find a giant pile of garbage to be frightening. They’ve taken this concept and tried to make it a “superhero” of sorts? Let’s all side with the HEAP? Hoo boy… another miss for a normally cool horror mag.

Anyway, a site called Injured Eyeballs has put together a nice history of the publisher here for your perusal. Part One and Part Two. As well, I’ve linked above to a quick overview from CBR.

"In combination with the gruesome art style Deagnon provides, in addition to Stasyna’s aid in wit writing, the first issue of Chicken Outfit has proved a worthy mention for the year’s most interesting self-published comics"